A Song of Ice and Fire

bluemax · 2011-07-26T16:10:13.000Z

Clearly the book needs to feature more than 250 some odd mentions of turtles.

XPav · 2011-07-26T19:37:56.000Z

Where do turtles go?

Mike_O_Malley · 2011-07-26T19:47:37.000Z

Mother of Turtles?

HRose · 2011-07-26T21:39:49.000Z

en.wikipedia.org

Turtles all the way down

"Turtles all the way down" is an expression of the problem of infinite regress. The saying alludes to the mythological idea of a World Turtle that supports the earth on its back. It suggests that this turtle rests on the back of an even larger turtle, which itself is part of a column of increasingly large turtles that continues indefinitely (i.e. "turtles all the way down"). The exact origin of the phrase is uncertain. In the form "rocks all the way down", the saying appears as early as 1838. ...

HighPlainsDrifter · 2011-07-27T21:42:22.000Z

I like how that article links to Yertle the Turtle.

lanelopez · 2011-07-28T05:43:31.000Z

I really like the song of ice and fire.This song is wonderful and i really liked it.

Cormac · 2011-08-05T06:02:44.000Z

I’m rather wary of any threads related to the books and also don’t want to google Dance with Dragons, as I don’T want to know ANYTHING about the plot before reading it myself!

However, I AM curious as to how people are reacting to the book. Is it considered a worthy follow up to the original 3 books? (in contrast to Crows, which wasn’t received all that well IIRC)

Also, for those that have read it, any thoughts on trying to read Crows & Dance chronologically? I’ve just finished re-reading Swords and would now tackle Crows before finally moving on to Dance. However I understand that at least the first half of Dance occurs concurrently with Crows, so I thought it might be interesting to mix and match a bit, thus keeping tabs on the main characters that were omitted and sorely missed during Crows, while still actually re-reading Crows…

Mouzone · 2011-08-05T06:54:33.000Z

I believe the general reaction is the book is average. I think it’s comparable to feast not on the level of swords. Main complaints are it does not really resolve any thing and generally just filling till the next book when presumably everything will come to ahead.
I would recommend just reading the books in order and not trying to do it chronologically by chapter.

Cormac · 2011-08-05T07:18:57.000Z

Mouzone:

I believe the general reaction is the book is average. I think it’s comparable to feast not on the level of swords. Main complaints are it does not really resolve any thing and generally just filling till the next book when presumably everything will come to ahead.

Ah… Thats what I was afraid of. Pitty. Was kinda hoping after apparently re-writing it a dozen times, Martin would’ve improved on the shortcomings of Feast.

Mouzone:

I would recommend just reading the books in order and not trying to do it chronologically by chapter.

Yeah… Probably too complicated to try to weave them together into a suitable order. Thanks for the input!

Guido_Jones · 2011-08-05T10:52:33.000Z

Cormac:

Yeah… Probably too complicated to try to weave them together into a suitable order. Thanks for the input!

Not so tough, but things that are kept secret until the end/later in AFFC are talked about at the beginning of ADWD.

Tin_Wisdom · 2011-08-05T11:03:15.000Z

I’m about halfway through the audiobook. I think it’s better than Crows, but only because I am pleased to be reading about the “core” characters rather than the ones presented in the fourth book.

The first time I listened to Crows on audiobook I just couldn’t quite get past the fact that John Lee was narrating instead of Roy Dotrice. My second time through it didn’t bother me as much and I got a lot more out of it.

Dotrice in Dance is… spotty for the first third. The ten-year gap between recording the third book and recording the fifth was too much for him to be able to recreate the voices, I guess. Dany sounds nothing like how he did the voice in Storm… instead she sounds like how he did Ygritte, the Wildling girl. Davos, Stannis, and even Tyrion were simply “off” for a good chunk of the first half.

Probably the most jarring was Dolorous Edd, who had a very distinctive voice in the first three books – Dotrice just comes up with a voice from left-field for him in the beginning of Dance. The Red Priestess Melisandre is another where he took a left turn – in the earlier audiobooks she has an incredibly deep voice, but in Dance she has his “normal” female tones.

By the middle of the book he seems to have recovered his stride a bit: Tyrion is back to where he was in Storm, as is Dolorous Edd and Davos. Dany is still odd-sounding.

Aquarian · 2011-08-05T12:32:31.000Z

In the first three books Melisandre sounds like a tranny escort sent to Stannis’ court to liven things up a bit. I don’t know how a change couldn’t be an improvement.

Tin_Wisdom · 2011-08-05T14:41:08.000Z

After finishing Clash I probably would have agreed with you, but the drag-queen voice really grew on me. I also started to picture her as looking like RuPaul… dunno if that’s good or bad.

Calistas · 2011-08-05T19:51:27.000Z

Ok, so I am posting without reading the thread because I am only half way through book two.

Can someone help me with a puzzler. Aria is in Harenhall and the bloody mummers return with prisoners, who Aria gets freed thanks to a magical McGuffin. Then, mid-fight (?) the mummers change sides and fight against Mr McNasty, the Lannister ravager guy. Is that right? Hard to go back and check on audiobook. Also, the prisoners are from the other-side-of-the-river blocking force that Edmur told to go cause some shit, much to Cait’s concern???

Scotch_Lufkin · 2011-08-05T20:27:20.000Z

Calistas:

Ok, so I am posting without reading the thread because I am only half way through book two.

Can someone help me with a puzzler. Aria is in Harenhall and the bloody mummers return with prisoners, who Aria gets freed thanks to a magical McGuffin. Then, mid-fight (?) the mummers change sides and fight against Mr McNasty, the Lannister ravager guy. Is that right? Hard to go back and check on audiobook. Also, the prisoners are from the other-side-of-the-river blocking force that Edmur told to go cause some shit, much to Cait’s concern???

Try this site:
http://towerofthehand.com/books/guide.html

Direct link to the Clash of King chapter recaps:
http://towerofthehand.com/books/102/

Not sure which Arrya chapter you are looking for though. it will be one of these, and it will explain what happened a bit for you.

Calistas · 2011-08-05T20:35:23.000Z

Ahh thanks!

" After they open the gates, Robett introduces himself and asks if they are with the Brave Companions; apparently Vargo was going to betray Harrenhal to Roose"

Hadn’t noticed at the time, ta. Now why did the mummers change sides when they were, IIRC happily ravaging the riverlands? Hmm :)

CSL · 2011-08-05T21:39:37.000Z

Calistas:

Hadn’t noticed at the time, ta. Now why did the mummers change sides when they were, IIRC happily ravaging the riverlands? Hmm :)

Vargo Hoat never figured out what the Rains of Castamere meant and thought he’d get to be Lord of Harrenhal.

Calistas · 2011-08-05T22:37:59.000Z

He’s not the only one!

Dufresne · 2011-08-05T22:41:31.000Z

Calistas:

He’s not the only one!

If only the real Lord of Harrenhal ever actually set foot there, all the confusion might be cleared up.

Aquarian · 2011-08-06T06:40:13.000Z

Omg! Jon Snow is the lost heir to House Hoare!